Stocks with defensive characteristics may be the focus with REITs and consumer sectors seeing resilient movement amid the market volatility, Malacca Securities said in a note.
On the contrary, the stockbroking firm said that selected technology stocks may take a beating ahead of the possible interest rate hike in the US, tracking the pullback in Nasdaq overnight.
On the local bourse, it said that the FBM KLCI (-0.4%) snapped a four-day winning streak, on the back of profit-taking activities with two-thirds of the key index components closed lower.
It said that the lower liners, however, ended mixed, while the broader market closed mostly negative with the construction sector (-0.7%) taking the worst hit.
On the global markets, it said that Wall Street retreated as the Dow (-0.7%) fell on sluggish economic data after new home sales in June 2022 shrank -by 8.1% MoM, while consumer confidence in July 2022 slipped to 95.7; the weakest since February 2021. The European stock markets turned downbeat, but Asia stock markets ended mixed.
